The solar-powered LEDs for street and, in the future, traffic lights could save the county millions of dollars and cut energy consumption, but it will also take an essential piece of infrastructure off the electric grid.

“Since Sandy, emergency preparation has become more important,” Freeholder Gary Rich said at last week’s meeting of the

Monmouth County's Board of Chosen Freeholder pose smiling under one of their prototype solar-powered streetlights at the county's Library Headquarters in Manalapan.Monmouth County / www.visitmonmouth.com

Board of Chosen Freeholders. “That is where the potential for solar-powered traffic lights comes in.”

During the October 2012 hurricane, much of Monmouth County lost electricity for as long as two weeks in some cases, creating a hazard on roadways where traffic signals were darkened - Freeholders noted that the outages also consumed valuable man-power as emergency personnel staffed intersections to direct traffic.

The county installed two solar-powered street lamps - one at the County’s Library Headquarters in Manalapan and a second in Freehold in front of the Monmouth County Courthouse.

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Solar panels placed on the batteries are able to generate 100 percent of the energy needed to power the lights, which eliminates the need for grid-powered electricity.

“This project has solar panels that are designed for maximum efficiency and can generate power even on cloudy days,” Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone said in a May press release. “An off-grid lighting system provides both economic and environmental benefits to Monmouth County as it will eliminate the need to run electricity to the lamp posts and reduce gas emissions related to the production of electricity.”

The county operates and maintains over 200 signalized intersections.

The solar panels may at times generate excess electricity, Arnone said.

“The solar panels will be mounted to the arm of a traffic signal and connected with the signal power supply,” Arnone said. “It is our hope to be able to return excess solar-generated electricity back to the grid, providing further economic benefits to this project.”